Scene 9
Despite the day, Dr. Parrish met them at his lab at GD. He seemed genuinely saddened by Kwon's death, and Jo liked him a little better for it.
He was happy to show them what Kwon had been working on: variously sized speakers capable of projecting high-intensity sounds.
"The big bats use the infrasonic speakers," Dr. Parrish explained, holding up a couple of examples of the differently sized speakers.
"The big bats?" Jo asked. Weren't they all big bats? Or at least bats of unusual size? Admittedly, the thing she'd seen last night had seemed huge, but she'd almost decided that was just an illusion caused by the perspective.
"Well, all the bats are big, relatively speaking. For bats, I mean. But creating infrasonic sound isn't easy: the speakers are bigger and heavier, so those speakers are in the bats with an eight-foot wingspan."
"An eight-foot wingspan?" Fargo choked out. "Those aren't bats, those are monsters. That is not in the project spec!"
"Neither were the weapons, Fargo," Carter pointed out.
Jo added dryly, "I think we can agree that Dr. Kwon had exceeded his project's parameters."
"It was more like a hobby for him," Dr. Parrish said hastily. "I don't think he ever intended that they be used as spy drones. The little bats were what he was working on for the DoD. They use the high-frequency speakers."
"Was he working on sonoluminescence?" Zane asked. "Did he intend the bats to be explosive?" Jo glanced at him and then hastily looked away. He glanced back at her, and a small smile crossed his face.
"I think he was just fascinated by sound waves," Dr. Parrish replied, his face sad. "He was curious about anything that sound might be capable of doing." He sighed, and shook his head, setting the speakers back down on the tabletop.
"So…what are these bats capable of doing?" Carter asked pointedly.
Parrish shrugged. "Are they all gone?" he asked.
"There were none left in the barn," Carter confirmed.
Parrish nodded. "He liked to test them against each other, see how they could avoid each other in flight, and which frequencies worked best for their high-speed mapping. The more of them flying at once, the tougher the challenge was in the enclosed space. But outside the barn, they shouldn't have any problems with flight at all. They'll avoid the EM field, of course, but otherwise, they're probably able to fly indefinitely: their batteries are good for days and they'll use solar power to recharge when they get low. They'll try to avoid capture, of course."
"Why of course?" Jo asked, almost fascinated by this string of bad news.
"Well, they're spy drones," Parrish answered, as if she was stupid. "It's in their programming to avoid capture."
Jo narrowed her eyes at him. Zane stepped up next to her and put his hand on her back. She glanced at him. He was giving Parrish a dirty look. She elbowed him, pushing his hand away, and he let it drop, but turned his gaze back to her. Their eyes met.
She glared.
He smiled.
"I'm really more interested in their weapons at the moment," Carter stepped in, distracting Parrish.
"Quit smiling at me," Jo whispered to Zane fiercely.
"I can't help myself," he whispered back. "You're cute when you're mad."
Jo's eyes widened. Had he really just said that to her? That…that…that sexist, patronizing cliché? Oh, he was just asking for trouble. Her glare deepened in intensity, and his smirk grew.
"Count yourself lucky that I'm not breaking your fingers," she hissed, turning her attention back to Parrish.
Leaning toward her, he breathed into her ear, "The ease with which you say that is almost as hot as it is disturbing."
Jo could not restrain a tiny squeak of pure fury that escaped from her lips, but gritting her teeth, she focused resolutely on Parrish. She was not going to pay attention to Zane, she was not. He could forget about her, fine, she could forget about him. And Parrish was talking about sound, with a certain unhealthy enthusiasm, detailing its many possible uses as a weapon.
"Gross!" Fargo looked revolted. "Vibrating eyeballs? That's…that's really unpleasant."
"But specifically, Dr. Parrish, what are these bats capable of?" Carter pushed at the important point again.
Parrish shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "It depends what frequencies they're using and Kwon was continually experimenting with those."
Carter sighed. "That's not real useful. All right, let's focus on how to capture them. Any ideas there?"
Parrish shrugged again. "Nets, I suppose."
"Let's see what the internet suggests." Fargo turned to one of the nearby computers, and started typing. "Oh, look. Bats are notoriously difficult to catch. That's not helpful. Tennis rackets? Towels? Well, at least we don't have to worry about rabies." He looked up at Parrish, eyes narrowed. "Kwon wasn't experimenting with biological weapons, was he? Because I'm going to be really annoyed if these bats are rabies carriers."
"That wouldn't exactly be non-lethal," Parrish said disdainfully, "so I wouldn't know." In response to Fargo's glare and Carter's scowl, he reluctantly added, "I doubt it, though."
"Oh, this is bad," Fargo muttered, as he continued to read. "Bat's echolocation abilities let them know what's all around them, which is why they're so hard to trap. In an enclosed space, you can drop something on top of one to catch it, but that's going to be tough to do outside. I wonder if we can build some kind of a sonic trap that would work."
"Robot bats won't be motivated by food, so we can't bait a trap for them," Carter thought out loud.
"Can't we just shoot them?" asked Jo, a little plaintively. She so wanted to shoot something. Really, anything would be good.
"Easier said than done, Jo," Carter pointed out. "Even a sharpshooter has to be able to get within range. We'd need a flying sharpshooter."
"How about Martha?" Zane suggested.
Jo glanced at him. Actually, that was a good idea. How annoying.
"No, no," said Fargo impatiently. "We need to capture them. The DoD will not like it if we destroy the entire project. This is bad enough."
"Before we can do anything, we're going to need to find them." Zane crossed to one of the lab's computers, and started typing without bothering to sit.
Fargo sighed, scrolling through information online. "Well, since we can't drop towels on them, we're going to have to figure out some way to use nets," he muttered.
Carter's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the caller ID, then answered. "Henry, great. Did you have a chance to finish the DNA test?"
"Yes, but…" Henry started, his voice tinny but discernable to the people standing next to Carter.
"Can you confirm that our pile of ash was Dr. Kwon?"
"Yes, but…"
"Ah, good. I mean, not good for Kwon, but at least we can be sure. What about cause of death? Is there anything—"
"Carter, I'm not calling about Kwon," Henry finally interrupted, his voice exasperated. "We've got bigger problems right now. There's mass panic on Main Street. People screaming and running, glass shattering, and bats. Really, really big bats."
